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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522829">it's nice to have a friend</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrifiedcas/pseuds/electrifiedcas'>electrifiedcas</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Can be read as a Julie / Carrie fic if you squint but nothing is explicit, Carrie finds out the truth in this, Gen, No Romance, this is also basically a carrie character study bc i love her, trevor/bobby is going through it, wrote at 2am so please ignore mistakes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-08 05:35:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522829</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrifiedcas/pseuds/electrifiedcas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"When she opened it, she swore her heart stopped. </p>
<p>On top of the pile in the box was the picture her dad had shown her as a little girl. Him, and his three bandmates. </p>
<p>Except those weren’t his bandmates in the picture. </p>
<p>They were Julie’s."</p>
<p>(or: the long story of Carrie and Julie's relationship)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Julie Molina &amp; Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Carrie Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>142</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it's nice to have a friend</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! This is my first fic for this fandom, and the first fic I've posted in over two years. I apologize for any mistakes in this! I wrote the bulk of it after midnight, which might've not been the best idea. </p>
<p>Please enjoy!! </p>
<p>I'm on tumblr @ foreverandeverandalways</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Carrie met Julie when they were five. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her dad was in the middle of recording his newest album, and after the last one didn’t do well, his label was making him try out different songwriters, one of them being Rose Molina. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, her dad and Julie’s mom met up in the studio, both holding the hand of a wide-eyed little girl eager to touch every musical instrument and microphone around. Both parents apologized for having to bring their children but found it didn’t matter when Julie and Carrie instantly became best friends that day. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their friendship was easier when they were that little. Carrie and Julie hung out as often as they could, sitting around Carrie’s living room while her dad taught them about guitar chords and music, running around music class at school together. They made plans for the future, Carrie would be a popstar, Julie would be her main songwriter and they would conquer the world together. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first time Carrie noticed something off was the first time she went over to Julie’s house. She remembered her dad talking to Julie’s on the phone, and his hand faltering slightly after he asked for their address. He acted weird on the drive over and didn’t get out of the car when dropping her off. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was soon forgotten as she was running around Julie’s mother's studio, sitting at the piano plunking on keys with her best friend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she got home later that evening, her dad was still acting strange. Carrie asked him if he was alright, and he said yes, and asked her to tell him about her day with Julie. She went on for what felt like hours, going over every little detail </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And then after dinner, we went into her mom's studio! It’s this huge garage in their backyard!” Carrie exclaimed, hopping around the room. Her dad gave a smile that little Carrie didn’t know how to read, and just replied with “I can imagine.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie continued her story, slowing down towards the end. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think Julie is my best friend <em> ever </em>,” Carrie said, matter-of-factly </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m glad you have that, sweetie.” Her dad replied </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you have a best friend?” Carrie asked, and her dad stilled a little. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not right now, no.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Did </em>you have a best friend?” Carrie inquired, as her dad sucked in a breath. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I had three.” He replied, leaning down to pick her up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll show you, but you gotta keep it a secret, alright?” Her dad carried her up the stairs, towards his room, as Carrie nodded excitedly against him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they entered the room Carrie was set down on the bench at the end of the bed, and her dad headed towards the large walk-in closet on the other side of the room. Moments later emerging with a beat-up looking shoebox in his hands. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sitting down next to Carrie, he opened the box and pulled out a picture. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This was my first band.” He smiled sadly at the photo, before handing it carefully to Carrie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the picture was a much younger looking version of her father, standing in front of a brick wall somewhere outside. Next to him was a boy around the same age, with shaggy brown hair and a bright smile, looking like he was laughing at something her father had said. There were two other boys leaning on the wall as well. One was wearing a pink hoodie and looked like he was twirling drumsticks, and the other had a dopey grin plastered on his face, looking straight at the camera. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s Luke,” Her dad started, pointing at the boy with the shaggy hair, “That one is Alex,” the boy with the drumsticks, “and that’s Reggie.” The smiley one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They look nice,” Carrie said, admiring the picture. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They were.” Her dad replied softly. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why aren’t they your best friends anymore?” Carrie scrunched her nose up, looking at her dad. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, honey, they passed away.” He gulped before continuing, tears starting to shine in his eyes “When we were teenagers.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh,” Carrie replied, becoming aware of why her dad was being so serious about this. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But, yes,” her dad continued, taking in a deep breath, “They were my best friends, and they were very nice.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Were you nice?” Carrie asked, in the way only a young child has the ability to. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her dad let out a shaky laugh, a look in his eyes that put him somewhere far away. “No.” He said. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Carrie looked at him confused, he shook it off and looked her in the eyes. “You gotta promise me that you will always be nice to Julie, alright.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course,” Carrie replied. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If she is really your best friend, you need to hold on to that, and be kind to her, no matter what happens.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, daddy.” Carrie smiled, she couldn’t imagine not being kind to Julie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good.” Her dad sighed and put the picture back in the box before announcing it was time for bed. </p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>The promise she made to her dad started to unravel in middle school.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie started to notice a key difference between how people treated her versus how they treated Julie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie was the daughter of Trevor Wilson. He was world-famous, a superstar. Carrie couldn’t fall short of that. When music industry people met her, they always talked about how much of a star Carrie would be, just like her dad. They mentioned her selling out stadiums, being America’s “it” girl. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie on the other hand just got to be “Julie”. She wrote pretty songs with her mom and was a skillful piano player. For Julie, she could be anything she wanted. Carrie had to be perfect. Had to be famous. While Carrie was in countless dance classes and vocal lessons, Julie was sitting next to her mom at the piano writing songs. She simply didn’t have the pressure on her that Carrie had. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>That realization was the first crack in their friendship. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then Julie made a new friend, a girl named Flynn. She got along with Carrie well enough, but it wasn’t the same as her and Julie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was then that Carrie started to pull away. She still hung out with Julie at school but started making excuses as to why she couldn’t hang out later in the day or on weekends. It wasn’t too difficult, given that their schedules were getting busier as they got older. At the very least, it provided an excuse for Carrie to avoid Julie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they hit high school, and Julie’s mom got sick, Carrie attempted to be kind to her, but Julie had Flynn who looked like she was handling it, so Carrie backed off. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her father’s agent gave her the idea for Dirty Candy towards the end of freshman year, and she ran with it. She gathered some girls from the dance program and tried to pretend to be their friends. However, she never could develop the same level of trust and understanding that she had when she was friends with Julie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie and her were cordial towards each other in the hallway at school. She remembered what she had told her father about being kind to Julie, and tried to stick to it, but with the social pressures of high school, even that started to chip away too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some of the more popular kids at school started to sit with Carrie after her first Dirty Candy performance. She remembers them poking fun at Julie’s outfit as she walked into the cafeteria for lunch, and she tried to defend her, only to be given weird looks and awkward silence in return. Having been trained to always be liked by everyone that was around her, Carrie deflected by instead making fun of something Flynn was wearing. She didn’t feel good about it, as the other kids laughed, but at least they were smiling at her again, giving her attention. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, Julie’s mom died. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie sent her a text offering her condolences, and never got a reply. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple of weeks later, when Julie came back to school, Carrie attempted to go up to her in the hall just to check-in, but Julie was with the school counselor, and Carrie didn’t want to interrupt. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later that day in music, Julie went and sat at the piano to begin her quarterly recital performance. However, instead of the beautiful piano playing and heartfelt lyrics they were all used to, Julie looked down at the keys and started sobbing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie stood up, like some kind of reflex she hadn’t yet grown out of came alive in her, fully intending to go over and comfort her friend. But before she could, Flynn pushed past her and gathered Julie up in her arms. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One of Carrie’s new friends made some joke next to her. Carrie didn’t even hear what she said, but everyone else in the room started laughing at Julie, so Carrie did too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She would pretend her heart didn’t break when Julie looked up at her, tears in her eyes, looking so hurt and so broken. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie isn’t sure why she didn’t stop after that. Maybe it was her new friends, always saying mean things first about Julie, and eventually, it just started to make its way into how Carrie acted as well. Maybe it was Carrie’s burning need to be the ringleader, and the center of attention because she was always told she couldn’t be any less. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maybe that’s why she was mad when she showed up for school at the beginning of junior year, and saw that Julie was still in the music program. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Because Julie hadn’t played the piano in almost a year, and Carrie had to be mean to her about it if she wanted to be the star everyone expected her to be. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the day of the pep rally, Carrie breathed a sigh of relief that now, at least, the only thing she had to worry about was Dirty Candy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>That relief didn’t last long though, as she started to make her way out of the gym and a familiar voice started singing. Shortly after, it sounded like a full band was playing along with her, and Carrie shoved her way to the front of the crowd stopping when she saw that Julie did in fact have a full band with her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She paused looking at the guitarist, who was starting his own verse of the song. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> “Where have I seen him before?” </em> A little voice in the back of her head asked. She brushed it off, not thinking anything of it. She followed tons of people on Instagram and had been to countless parties. She had probably seen him somewhere and just forgotten. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then she found out they were holograms, and of course, <em> of course, </em>Julie would have a gimmick that would launch her into stardom. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was already insanely talented, and with this, she could be better than Carrie and Dirty Candy. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The weird feeling of familiarity with the holograms never went away, and Carrie’s conflicting feelings on Julie remained as well. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Julie first spoke back to her, a firm <em> “That’s not why I’m here.” </em> Carrie needed to take a step back, because the voice in her head said, <em> “oh, there’s the Julie I know.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then watching her on the stage, singing along with the hologram boy, something loosened in her chest. Julie looked like she was having fun, and she looked <em> happy </em>. But something was off, still. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked at the guitarist again, then the bassist, and finally the drummer. She couldn’t tell anyone why, but something was wrong here. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the day of the Orpheum show, her dad started acting weird again. He was nervous, which was an odd look on him. His leg bouncing and his temper short. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she whined for the millionth time that she didn’t want to go, he snapped at her to get dressed and get in the car, which was so unlike him that she obliged, throwing him a curious look as she did. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Julie took the stage, Carrie took notice of the flower resting on the keyboard. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> “It’s a dahlia,” </em> Julie’s mom had told her once. <em> “They’re my favorite.” </em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The memory made her throat tighten, and to fight it off she made another joke about Julie choking, even though she knew she wouldn’t do that. Not anymore. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The rest of the band popped in beside Julie, and she was faintly aware of her dad freezing next to her, but Carrie was transfixed on Julie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie, who she remembered running around her mom’s studio, toy microphone in hand, was now singing her heart out to a song she wrote, in one of the biggest clubs in LA. Unlike the rest of the crowd, Carrie had seen the holograms before. What she hadn’t seen was Julie. Her heart out on the stage, giving a song everything she had. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was like a switch flipped inside Carrie. She knew her anger was misplaced, knew her goals and her ambitions had gotten the best of her, and she knew she felt incredibly guilty for all of it. Even as she stood and clapped for her former friend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>After Julie soaked in her applause, she headed off backstage. Carrie turned to her dad only to find him staring straight ahead, shaking like a chihuahua. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dad?” She asked, “You okay?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn’t respond, and Carrie grew worried. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dad?” She asked again, waving her hand in front of his face. It seemed to work that time, as he blinked and looked at her before suddenly standing on his feet. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We need to go home.” Her dad said, turning on his heel and heading towards the door before she could even reply. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>His weird behavior didn’t end after they got home. If anything, it got worse. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He spent a lot of time in his room, or on the phone with his therapist. Carrie was still worried, but had some things to deal with on her own now, and figured as long as her dad was talking to <em> someone </em>he would be alright. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Monday after the Orpheum Carrie decided to take a chance and walked up to Julie in the hallway. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh, hi, Julie.” Carrie started, standing awkwardly behind her former friend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Carrie?” Julie turned around, looking at her quizzically “Can I help you with something?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, uh, I just wanted to tell you,” Carrie took a deep breath before continuing, “I was at your show on Saturday. You were really good.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, well thanks,” Julie said, still confused at the interaction. After a beat of silence, she continued. “Anything else? I kinda have to get to class so,” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I just,” Carrie started, before stopping herself, trying to search for the words. “I’m sorry, Julie. For just about everything I’ve done these past few years.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Carrie it’s fine you really don’t have to do this.” Julie tried, but was soon interrupted. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But I do. Because you were my friend, and I wasn’t nice to you. For like, no reason. It wasn’t cool of me, and I’m sorry.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie blinked back at her for a second, before mumbling out something that sounded like a soft <em> “shut up” </em> and when Carrie looked confused she quickly added a “Thank you, Carrie.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stood there in the hall for a couple seconds, both trying to come up with words when suddenly Flynn appeared next to Julie, letting out an exasperated “What do you want now, she-devil?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie smiled kindly at her. She was glad Julie had found Flynn, she was a much better friend than Carrie was. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing, I was just telling Julie I enjoyed her show at the Orpheum.” Carrie said, “By the way, cute top, Flynn.”  Carrie smiled again, and turned to walk away to class. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she got home from school, she certainly felt better. Her dad on the other hand, still looked about as bad as when she left him. He was sitting at the kitchen counter on his laptop, lost in thought. He gave a quick hello and then didn’t say any more, so Carrie just went up to her room to practice for the next Dirty Candy performance. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>From that day forward, she was more cautious with her words and her attitude. If the kids around her started acting like bullies, she’d tell them to stop. Slowly, she started talking to Julie again. It was obvious they would never be as close as they once were, but it was still nice the first time Julie voluntarily sat next to her in history class and asked if she could borrow a highlighter.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie and her Phantoms kept performing, and Carrie was at every show. She had tried to ask Julie how she did the whole hologram thing, like for real, but Julie brushed it off, so Carrie just assumed she wasn’t quite in her good graces yet. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie and Flynn started showing up at Dirty Candy performances too, and once Flynn even offered to remix one of the songs that she enjoyed. It was nice, what they were building back up together. Even if they weren’t besties, it was nice. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her dad asked about the holograms a few times too, after he noticed Carrie was talking about Julie more. Carrie told him all that she knew, which was nothing. He sighed and looked frustrated, but didn’t push the issue. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>One weekend, it seemed to have gotten a lot worse very quickly. He was a nervous wreck, more so than usual these days, and by dinner, he came running down the stairs, told Carrie he was going away for the weekend, and hopped in his helicopter and left. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She wasn’t unused to it, her entire childhood he was on the road touring or away for whatever reason, but with the way he had been acting recently she was worried. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Curious for hints as to what was up, she decided to do some snooping. She checked his office first, and found nothing of interest. His meditation room was the same, if looking a bit more used than normal. Next, she checked his bedroom, there were clothes thrown around, singling that he had packed in a rush. Some papers tossed around that looked like song lyrics and chords. He had left the light on in his closet, and Carrie sighed and slowly made her way over to turn it off. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she got into the doorway, she paused. On a shelf in the back was a shoebox, one she vaguely remembered from her childhood. Standing on her tiptoes she pulled it down and brought it over to a chair in the room. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she opened it, she swore her heart stopped. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the top of the pile in the box was the picture her dad had shown her as a little girl. Him and his three bandmates. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Except those weren’t his bandmates in the picture. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were Julie’s. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The guitarist with the shaggy hair and bright smile, the blonde drummer in the pink hoodie, the smiling bassist clad in a leather jacket. Julie’s band. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie’s band in a picture with her father, more than 25 years ago. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the hell?” Carrie said out loud. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked through the box again and pulled out a CD with “Sunset Curve” written across the plastic. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There were more pictures in the box of the band members, every single one of them from the ’90s. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is where she recognized Julie’s band from. This whole time. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pulled out a piece of paper from the bottom of the box. It was torn around the edges and looked like it had been folded a few times. On the front was a picture of the guitarist and a short message that read: </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> “In loving memory, </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em> Luke Patterson </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>October 28th, 1978 - July 25th, 1995” </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie remembered then, they were dead. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the <em> hell </em>.” She said out loud again, before gathering the photograph and funeral card and heading out the door. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she got to Julie’s house she banged on the front door until her dad finally answered it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Carrie?” He asked, surprised to see her. “What can I help you with?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is Julie home?” She asked impatiently. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, she’s in the studio.” Ray looked at her, “Are you okay?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m fine, thanks Mr. Molina” Carrie replied, already halfway down the steps and on her way to the studio. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As she got closer she could hear music. Guitar and drums and piano all reaching her ears. It sounded like a band practicing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The noise stopped before Carrie could throw open the doors, and when she did all she saw was Julie sitting in front of her piano, pen in hand writing on some sheet music. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Carrie? What are you doing he-” Julie started, but before she could finish Carrie interrupted </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What the hell is going on, Jules?” Carrie stood in the center of the room, looking more and more exasperated as Julie just gaped at her, sending odd glances somewhere behind where Carrie was standing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Julie eventually said. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why did I find <em> THIS </em> in my dad's stuff?” Carrie all but yelled, slamming the photograph and funeral card down on the piano in front of Julie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie took the card first, reading over the <em> “In loving memory of Luke Patterson” </em> in a whisper, before looking up at Carrie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can explain.” Julie gulped, looking around the room. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You better have a really good explanation for why you’re using my dad’s dead bandmates for your little hologram show.” Carrie started, “I mean even if it’s some super weird technology thing that just makes them look like this, why would you choose DEAD teenagers? That’s sick Julie.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They’re not holograms!” Julie shouted back </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Now it was Carrie’s turn to look confused. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, they were in a band with your dad,” Julie began, “Yes, they’re dead. They’re ghosts.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh come on,” Carrie scoffed, “I’m not joking around, Julie.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Neither is she.” A voice from behind them said, and Carrie turned around to come face to face with the band in question. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were there, in front of her, flickering a little as they came into view. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh my god.” Was all she could come up with. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turned to look at Julie, shock written on her face. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t know how this happened.” Julie started explaining, “They just appeared one day, and usually only I can see them, except for when we’re performing. This whole thing they’re doing right now is new.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s why we’re flickering. Still getting the hang of the whole apparition thing.” The blonde one, Alex, told her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is insane,” Carrie whispered, closing her eyes and opening them only to see they were still there. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your dad was our rhythm guitarist.” Luke, said. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He also stole all of Luke’s work.” Reggie chimed in. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Carrie replied, still getting used to this. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The songs. On his first album?” Luke began, “I wrote most of them.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie took that information in, staring at the band members, then looking back at Julie who nodded in affirmation. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He wasn’t nice to his friends,” Carrie spoke into the silence, at no one in particular.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh?” Said Alex. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He told me once, when I was little, that he wasn’t nice to his friends. To you guys.” Carrie looked at them, uncertainty written on their faces. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, well, that’s cool and all but he still stole my songs.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ohmygod ‘<em> My name is Luke </em>’” Carrie stared wide-eyed at him, “I never understood that one but ohmygod it wasn’t his.”  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, well, he’s Luke.” Reggie added, pointing at the boy in question. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is why he’s been acting so weird since the Orpheum.” Carrie sighed, talking to the ceiling. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, what?” Julie asked, “Your dad was there too?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, he was the one who wanted to go after seeing you guys on YouTube.” Carrie laughed a little, “This makes so much more sense now.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Does it?” Alex said at the same time Luke asked “Did he see us performing?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, and he’s been a mess ever since.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh.” Said everyone at once. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, maybe now we could talk to him? If he knows that we’re here.” Luke suggested. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Julie said, coming to stand closer to Carrie. “No revenge business like last time?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Carrie asked, looking between the band members. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nothing.” They all replied. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If you wanted to talk to him, I suppose you could try?” Carrie offered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You think?” Luke asked. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It might be good for him.” </p>
<p>Carrie had started to fix things with her old best friend, who’s to say that her dad couldn’t fix things with his? </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, I really don’t care about what’s good for him.” Luke stared at her. “This is for us.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carrie figured that was valid enough, even more so after Julie had handed her Luke’s songwriting journal, and she saw the compositions for songs her dad had 100% recorded and became famous with. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later, after the ghosts had flickered out (they can’t hold it for that long), Julie offered to walk home with Carrie. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They made it halfway there in silence before Carrie spoke up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you think your mom has something to do with it?” she asked </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you mean? The boys?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah. Maybe she brought them here? For you?” Carrie offered. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve thought about that. I’d like to think so.” Julie smiled at the ground, “She had a Sunset Curve shirt in her stuff. I think she might’ve been a fan.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No way.” Carrie laughed, “I wonder if she knew my dad?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maybe that’s how they knew each other before they wrote anything together?” Julie laughed too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now that’s something wild.” Carrie smiled, coming to a stop outside her house. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He home?” Julie asked </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, he had some sort of mental breakdown because of your phantoms. I think he’s in Hawaii.” Carrie laughed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I wish you would’ve told me that, I would’ve offered to let you stay over at my house.” Julie sighed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know, we put in a theater room last year. You could stay over here tonight?” Carrie smiled hopefully, “Maybe invite Flynn? Have a girls night?” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I could use a girls night.” Julie smiled back, following Carrie into the house. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Later, after finishing several movies and inhaling enough popcorn to fill an entire movie theater, Flynn would dig out a karaoke machine and hand the microphone off to Carrie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Listening to her friends laugh and running around the room with her microphone screaming Taylor Swift lyrics, Carrie thinks that her life might not have to be as complicated as she makes it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Even if she now had to deal with ghosts. </p>
<p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There is potentially more fics to come from this. I was thinking about doing one from Julie's perspective, and maybe another one from Trevor/Bobby's that would include the band confronting him. Let me know if there's any interest in that! Thank you for reading!!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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